Ireland permits dual citizenship. What the statute actually says, the notification duties that go with it, and what it means if you are considering a second passport.
Whether you can keep your Irish passport while holding another one is decided by Ireland, not by the country issuing the second document. This page sets out the current position, the statute behind it, and what it means in practice for someone considering a second citizenship.
Short answer: Ireland permits dual citizenship. The detail below matters more than the headline, because the consequences of getting it wrong fall on the individual — usually years later, at a passport renewal or a border.
Yes. Ireland places no restriction on dual or multiple citizenship, and Irish citizens do not lose their status by naturalising elsewhere.
The rule to establish first is always the one that applies to you at home. A second country can only grant its own status; it cannot preserve a nationality that your own law terminates. The wider picture is in how holding two passports works in practice, with the country-by-country table.
| Question | Position in Ireland |
|---|---|
| Dual citizenship | Permitted |
| Governing law | Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts |
| Must the authorities be notified? | No |
| Renunciation of the other nationality | No |
| Basis of taxation | Residence and domicile |
| Military service obligation | No |
The Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts contain no prohibition on holding other nationalities. Citizenship by descent is available to those with an Irish parent, and to those with an Irish grandparent through registration in the Foreign Births Register, provided the registration is made before the birth of the next generation.
The authoritative source is the Department of Foreign Affairs citizenship service. Rules in this area change by amendment and by notification, so the position should be confirmed at the time you act, not from any article.
The mistakes below account for most of the cases where people discover a problem years after the event, typically when renewing a passport or crossing a border. The first one is the common one: this page describes the rule at one end of the arrangement only.
Irish citizens already hold one of the stronger passports in the world, so Vanuatu is rarely about mobility for them. Where it comes up, it is usually as a non-EU base or as part of a family structure.
If the route does make sense for you, the practical detail is in the application process, the cost breakdown and the visa-free list.
The same question, answered for comparable jurisdictions:
Before applying anywhere, get the rule for your own citizenship confirmed in writing. We do that check first and tell you if the answer is no.